Apparatus for making extracorporeal blood circulation available

1. A heart-lung machine for providing an extracorporeal blood circuit, comprising:

at least one base module having a control device;

a patient module releasably connected to the base module and having blood-conducting components of the extracorporeal blood circuit disposed thereon; and

a pivot at one of the base module and the patient module for pivoting the patient module relative to the base module about a horizontal axis from a filling position into an operating position

wherein said patient module comprises a blood reservoir and a pump configured for pumping priming liquid and/or blood; and

wherein the blood reservoir is arranged at an inclination of approximately 45° to the horizontal in the filling position and in the operating position.

2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , wherein an angular range of approximately 90° is defined between the filling position and the operating position.

3. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said pump comprises a centrifugal pump head having a central inlet and a tangential outlet and that is arranged in the patient module such that the inlet is oriented vertically upwardly in the filling position and horizontally in the operating position.

4. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said pump comprises a centrifugal pump head having a tangential outlet and that is arranged in the patient module such that the outlet is arranged at the bottommost position of the centrifugal pump head in the operating position.

5. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , and further comprising an arterial filter having a venting outlet and that is arranged in the patient module such that the venting outlet is oriented horizontally in the filling position and vertically upwardly in the operating position.

6. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the pivot means includes a mount for the patient module pivotally supported at the base module.

7. An apparatus in accordance with claim 6 , wherein the pivot means includes a guide which is provided at the mount and at the patient module and/or at a further module connected to the patient module.

8. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the patient module and base module are configured such that the patient module is in the operating position upon being releasably attached to the base module.

9. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the base module comprises a stand which is provided with a pivotal hook such that the apparatus may stand on a level surface or be hung from a frame of a patient's bed.

10. A method for operating an apparatus configured for providing an extracorporeal blood circuit, said method comprising:

bringing a patient module of said apparatus into a filling position;

filling blood-conducting components of the patient module with a priming liquid while said patient module is in said filling position; and

pivoting the patient module relative to a base module of said apparatus into an operating position wherein:

said apparatus comprises at least one base module having a control device and a patient module releasably connected to the base module and

said patient module comprising blood-conducting components of an extracorporeal blood circuit and a pivot at the base module and/or the patient module for pivoting the patient module relative to the base module about a horizontal axis from a filling position into an operating position;

wherein said patient module comprises a pump and said method further comprises driving said pump of the patient module to pump a priming liquid through the blood conducting components and vent the blood-conducting components prior to pivoting the patient module into an operating position; and

wherein said pump is a centrifugal pump comprising a central inlet and an outlet and wherein pivoting the patient module from the filling position to the operating position moves the central inlet from a position in which it is oriented vertically upward to a position in which it is oriented horizontally and moves the outlet to a position that lower than the inlet.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said patient module comprises an oxygenator and said driving of said pump fills the oxygenator with the priming liquid and said method further comprising stopping the pump before pivoting the patient module from the filling position into the operating position.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein said pivoting the patient module relative to the base module comprises pivoting by about 90°.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said patient module comprises an approximately parallelepiped-shaped blood reservoir that is oriented at an angle of about 45° with respect to the horizontal in both the filling and operating positions.

14. The method of claim 10 , and further comprising releasably mounting said patient module on the base module such that said patient module is in the operating position and pivoting the patient module relative to the base module into the filling position.

15. The method of claim 10 , and further comprising releasably mounting a control module on said base module.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein said patient module comprises an arterial filter having a venting outlet and pivoting the patient module from the filling position into the operating position moves the venting outlet from being oriented horizontally to being oriented vertically with respect to the horizontal.

17. A heart-lung machine for providing an extracorporeal blood circuit, comprising:

at least one base module having a control device;

a patient module releasably connected to the base module and having blood-conducting components of the extracorporeal blood circuit disposed thereon; and

a pivot at one of the base module and the patient module for pivoting the patient module relative to the base module about a horizontal axis from a filling position into an operating position

wherein said patient module comprises a blood reservoir and a pump configured for pumping priming liquid and/or blood;

wherein said pump comprises a centrifugal pump head having a central inlet and a tangential outlet and that is arranged in the patient module such that the inlet is oriented vertically upwardly in the filling position and horizontally in the operating position.

18. A heart-lung machine for providing an extracorporeal blood circuit, comprising:

at least one base module having a control device;

a patient module releasably connected to the base module and having blood-conducting components of the extracorporeal blood circuit disposed thereon; and

a pivot at one of the base module and the patient module for pivoting the patient module relative to the base module about a horizontal axis from a filling position into an operating position

wherein said patient module comprises a blood reservoir and a pump configured for pumping priming liquid and/or blood; and

wherein said pump comprises a centrifugal pump head having a tangential outlet and that is arranged in the patient module such that the outlet is arranged at the bottommost position of the centrifugal pump head in the operating position.

19. A method for operating an apparatus configured for providing an extracorporeal blood circuit, said method comprising:

bringing a patient module of said apparatus into a filling position;

filling blood-conducting components of the patient module with a priming liquid while said patient module is in said filling position; and

pivoting the patient module relative to a base module of said apparatus into an operating position wherein:

said apparatus comprises at least one base module having a control device and a patient module releasably connected to the base module and

said patient module comprising blood-conducting components of an extracorporeal blood circuit and a pivot at the base module and/or the patient module for pivoting the patient module relative to the base module about a horizontal axis from a filling position into an operating position;

wherein said pivoting the patient module relative to the base module comprises pivoting by about 90°; and

wherein said patient module comprises an approximately parallelepiped-shaped blood reservoir that is oriented at an angle of about 45° with respect to the horizontal in both the filling and operating positions.